


The Bird Song

by Thunderfire69



Series: The IronStrange den [34]
Category: Avengers: Infinity War - Fandom, Doctor Strange - Fandom, Iron Man - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Birds, Getting Together, M/M, Magic Gone Wrong, Major character death - Freeform, Plot What Plot, Slow Burn, great tits to be exact, magical transformations, stephen accidentally turned him and Tony into birds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-02-04 10:58:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 4,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18603151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thunderfire69/pseuds/Thunderfire69
Summary: Stephen accidentally turns him and Tony into birds. It’s gonna take a lot to get Wong to realise and change them back.





	1. One: Portals, magic and great tit birds

**Author's Note:**

> I’m seeing Endgame in eight days so I’m gonna try to finish this fic by then

“This is your fault.” Tony’s tone was accusing, and Stephen had the decency to not even argue.

 

“Yeah, okay, it is my fault,” Stephen agreed, scratching at the ground with a foot.

 

But wait, let’s rewind. About fifteen minutes earlier, Tony and Stephen stood in the heart of the Sanctum, where the magic was supposed to be the strongest.

 

“You’re sure this is going to work?” Tony demanded. “Last time you tried something like this-”

 

“I know, I know,” Stephen muttered tiredly. “I got us trapped in an alien dimension.”

 

“You’re just lucky I managed to become a god to them. I think they wanted to eat you.”

 

“Why? Because I’m such a snack?”

 

“You’re absolutely insufferable,” Tony said, pointedly turning his back on Stephen.

 

“Can I start now?” Stephen asked, amused.

 

“Whatever,” Tony grumbled, sounding sulky.

 

Stephen closed his eyes an initiated the spell; slowly, a portal began to open in front of them. Forgetting his upset, Tony was staring at it in wide eyed wonder.

 

“You’ve actually got it right this time, huh, Strange?”

 

Stephen smiled at him weakly, his energy focused into casting the spell. “You bet.”

 

The portal grew in size, until neither of them could see beyond the yawning black mouth of it. Stephen locked gazes with Tony.

 

“Okay… now!” The two of them dove for the portal as Stephen released the spell; the moment they hit its surface, it flashed red, then blue, and then it vanished.

 

The two were left in the middle of the Sanctum, and both glanced around in confusion. Everything seemed… bigger, and they certainly  _ hadn’t  _ travelled up to the moon as Stephen had intended.

 

Tony clapped his wings in annoyance- wait,  _ wings _ ? Tony hopped on his feet, and when he glanced down at them he found them to be the feet of a bird. A slight breeze ruffled his feathers, and Tony glanced over at Stephen. Instead of the sorcerer he knew, a small, blue bird sat in the yard, looking just as confused as Tony felt. 

 

“Stephen?” Tony chirped quietly, finding he was still able to talk; at least, to him it sounded that he could talk.

 

“Tony?” The blue bird turned to face him; the same aqua eyes Tony knew to be Stephen’s, and a patch of red across his back. His wingtips were black, as was his tail tip, and he looked very, very confused.

 

“You’re… a small blue bird,” Tony said slowly.

 

“You’re a small red bird,” Stephen replied, sounding confused. Tony stretched out a wing to study it, noticing he was, in fact, red feathered, and his wingtips were black like Stephen’s.

 

“What  _ type  _ of birds are we?” Tony asked, and Stephen studied him carefully.

 

“A Great Tit, I think,” the sorcerer said finally.

 

“Was that the name of the bird or an insult?” Tony chirped indignantly.

 

Stephen shook his head, an almost comical gesture for a bird to make. “The bird’s name. Judging by my feather colours, I’d say I’m a Blue Tit, but I could possibly be a Great Tit.”

 

“Who even names these birds?” Tony let out a sigh. “This is your fault.”

 

“Yeah, okay, it is my fault,” Stephen agreed, scratching at the ground.

 

“And  _ you’re  _ going to fix it. Right now,” Tony said, jabbing a wing in Stephen’s direction.

 

“I can’t,” Stephen said, sounding defeated. “I can’t do magic in this form. We have to hope Wong can understand us… or that we can convince him it’s us.”

 

“Greaaaaat,” Tony grumbled, throwing in an eye roll for good measure. Stephen instantly flinched, covering his eyes with shaking wings.

 

“Ew! Birds rolling their eyes is gross, Tony.”

 

In retaliation Tony rolled his eyes again, and Stephen held up his wings as a defensive shield. 

 

“Stop it!” Stephen shrieked.

 

“Only if you get us out of this mess,” Tony said. Stephen lowered his wings slowly.

 

“Alright, let’s go see Wong.”


	2. Two: Flying, messages and Wong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephen and Tony manage to let Wong know that it’s them

They found Wong in his room in the Sanctum; specifically he was asleep, his astral form out of his body and reading.

 

“He often sleeps during the day,” Stephen tried to whisper, but it came out as a shrill shriek. He tried again, this time getting a quieter pitch. “He’s often up late cleaning the Sanctum, sorting books in the library and so forth.”

 

“Well, we’ve got to wake him,” Tony said, easily mastering the quieter tone.

 

“But-” Stephen glanced over at Wong, then back at Tony, really seeming to notice he was a bird. He let out a sigh. “Okay, okay.”

 

Without warning Tony leaped into the air, and flew straight into Wong’s face, managing to claw the sleeping wizard in the process. Wong’s astral form returned to his body with a jolt as Tony tumbled off him and back down to the floor.

 

“Did you have to be so violent?” Stephen squawked, flapping his wings slightly.

 

“Yes,” Tony replied weakly from his position on the floor, his wings stretched out awkwardly; as far as Stephen could tell, Tony hadn’t broken anything, which was a relief. Wong glanced over the edge of his bed at Tony, and his face morphed into one of concern.

 

“Oh, did you hurt yourself?” Wong’s tone was about as concerned and caring as it could get, which really didn’t sound that concerned or caring at all. Tony let out a small, indignant cry that came out as more of a shrill shriek and flapped his wings as he somehow managed to get back up.

 

“Very dignified,” Stephen observed.

 

“Oh shut up,” Tony retaliated childishly. At this moment Wong stood and opened the small, small window in his room.

 

“Come on, out.”

 

“Wong, it’s me! Stephen!” Stephen cried out in shrill, bird-like tones, but the sorcerer clearly couldn’t understand him. 

 

“He can’t understand us,” Tony said musingly, sounding as if he was already forming an idea.

 

“No shit, genius,” Stephen muttered angrily in his direction. Tony flared his wings once, which gained Wong’s attention, then flew up to hover, with some difficulty, beside the wall, where he began to shakily scratch  _ something  _ into it with his talons.

 

“Having a little difficulty flying?” Stephen asked after a moment, amused.

 

“Flying itself would be hard enough if I wasn’t focusing on this,” Tony puffed out, still scratching the wall.

 

“You managed to fly into Wong’s face easily enough before,” Stephen pointed out.

 

“Yeah but I knew I was headed for a crash landing,” Tony replied, finally finishing scratching his message into the wall; the words  _ It’s Tony. _

 

Stephen flapped his way up to scratch  _ and Stephen  _ beside it, taking just as long as Tony and finding that he was right, and that flying really wasn’t easy, especially when you’re trying to write a message. When the two birds had landed on the floor again, Wong stared at the message for a long moment.

 

“So you managed to turn Stark and yourself into birds, Stephen?” Wong asked them finally, sounding amused. Stephen nodded frantically, and Wong let out a laugh. “And I guess you want me to fix it, huh?”

 

Stephen nodded again, and Tony covered his face with a wing. If this was from embarrassment or to stifle laughter, Stephen didn’t know.

 

“Alright then, but it might take a while,” Wong said warningly. “So get used to being Great Tits for now.” The sorcerer then promptly began laughing at his own joke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will involve some Peter and Rhodey fussing over the birds Tony and Stephen, and some sneaky foreshadowing (bonus points to your Hogwarts house if you can spot said foreshadowing when I release the chapter)


	3. Three: Cages, Peter and a nearby fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wong tasks Peter and Rhodey with looking after Tony and Stephen

“Mr Stark and Mr Doctor Strange are these two birds?” Peter’s voice was laced with confusion as Wong thrust the cage roughly into Peter’s arms, and Tony squawked indignantly from inside.

 

“Spell gone wrong,” Wong said vaguely. “Put them in the cage to keep them out of trouble.”

 

“And you’re entrusting them to me…?”

 

Wong gestured at Rhodey, who was standing just behind Peter. “And him. Well, mostly him.”

 

“I’m sure we can handle them until you figure this out,” Rhodey said from behind Peter; Wong gave them a small nod then stepped back through the open portal into the Sanctum, which snapped shut behind him.

 

“Thank god. No offence, Strange, but your wizard friend? He’s kind of… odd.” Tony shook out his feathers and hopped a little closer to the edge of the cage.

 

“He’s different,” Stephen agreed. “But he’s a good person.”

 

“We could let them out, right, Mr Rhodey?” Peter asked from across the room, where he’d followed Rhodey, who was now seated and reading.

 

“So long as you make sure they can’t get out,” Rhodey agreed with a sigh. “God knows what mischief Tony would get up to as a bird.”

 

“Hey! I heard that!” Tony chirped angrily, and Rhodey glanced at him, then at Peter.

 

“Tony,” he said, pointing at the small red bird. “Which means Stephen is the blue one; and they can understand us.”

 

Peter didn’t say anything, simply walked over and unlocked the cage. Stephen flew out to perch atop the back of the couch, and Tony flew to nest in Peter’s hair, which Peter seemed very happy about.

 

“Mr Rhodey! Look! Look at what Mr Stark is doing!”

 

Rhodey glanced up briefly, then returned to reading, grumbling something about how Tony should adopt Peter already. Stephen looked up from where he’d nestled down on the back of the couch.

 

“You’re just sitting on his head because you can,” Stephen said, jabbing a wing accusingly in Tony’s direction.

 

“And because I can’t sit on his head once Wong’s fixed this,” Tony added, nestling down more into Peter’s hair. The teen sat down on the couch, flicking through the channels on tv. He stopped briefly on the news, where Tony got a glimpse of some fire that had started not far from the compound before Peter changed the channel again.

 

“Was that fire something to worry about?” Tony asked Stephen.

 

“I wouldn’t know, I’m just a Great Tit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was more of a filler than anything; more plot stuff should come in next chapter, as well as some mild flirting between Tony and Stephen. Also no, I’m never dropping the Great Tit joke.


	4. Four: Mutants, fires and impeding danger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Turns out that fire WAS something to worry about after all...

It was a few hours later when Rhodey leapt to his feet, looking panicked; he’d switched from reading to using a StarkPad a while ago, and now the tech clattered to the floor.

 

“Hey! I have to pay for that!” Tony exclaimed, his voice a shrill shriek. Rhodey didn’t even spare a glance in his direction.

 

“That fire from earlier isn’t just any fire,” Rhodey said, voice sounding strained. “There’s… a mutant down there.”

 

“I thought the X-Men had all the mutants handled, Mr Rhodey?” Peter asked, sounding confused.

 

“Obviously not,” Rhodey said, glancing in the general direction of Tony’s lab. Peter followed his gaze.

 

“You’re not going down there, Mr Rhodey?” Peter asked, something akin to worry sneaking into his tone. “If that mutant could set a building alight he can surely burn you out of your suit!”

 

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with the kid,” Stephen chirped from his place on the back of the couch.

 

“I  _ can  _ believe I’m saying this, I agree with the kid too,” Tony said, shooting Stephen a glare. Rhodey looked over at the two birds.

 

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re trying to talk me out of it,” he said with a small chuckle. “Keep an eye on them while I’m gone, alright?”

 

“You’re  _ going _ ? But Mr Rhodey, it’s dangerous!”

 

“We’re superheroes, kid. Danger is what we do.” Rhodey then began to make his way down the hall to Tony’s lab. 

 

Instantly Tony left his spot nestled into Peter’s hair to fly after him, trying in vain to catch onto his shirt with his talons to drag him back. In the end he resorted to flying at Rhodey’s face, but was stopped when Rhodey quickly shut the lab door between them, leaving Tony hovering outside shrieking in protest as Rhodey got into his suit.

 

“Sorry, Tones. But you can’t exactly save the day right now, can you?” Rhodey’s mask snapped down over his face, and then his thrusters powered up and he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhodey... you shouldn’t have gone...
> 
> Also I’m a little panicked as to whether I’ll get this out before I see Endgame or not so I might post another chapter tonight


	5. Five: Hallways, Comfort and Hair Nests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephen and Tony have a small chat

Stephen found him half an hour later, nestled in the corner of the hall on the floor, gaze locked on the glass door to his lab.

 

“You did all you could to stop him,” Stephen said quietly, settling down beside Tony.

 

“And it wasn’t enough.” Tony turned his head to Stephen, who was reminded with a jolt that birds could tear up. “He’s still out there! He could die!”

 

“That’s a risk he chose to take,” Stephen said gently. “It’s a risk that we, as superheroes, all choose to take.”

 

Tony cracked a smile at that, or as close as a bird could get to a smile.

 

“What?” Stephen demanded, not failing to notice his change in expression.

 

“I’ve just never heard you refer to yourself as a superhero before,” Tony replied.

 

“I was just trying to make you feel better,” Stephen said sulkily, but he was smiling slightly too, both of them with odd bird grins in that corner of the hall.

 

“Well, you’ve succeeded,” Tony said, with humour in his tone.

 

“Then my work is done,” Stephen chirped, getting to his feet.

 

“You’re going to just leave me?” Tony asked, sounding as if he was scared to be left on his own.

 

“Just getting more comfortable,” Stephen promised, settling himself down closer to Tony. He was surprised to find the genius didn’t flinch away the moment their wings brushed; in fact he seemed to lean into the touch slightly.

 

“There you guys are!” Peter burst in through the hall’s entrance, pointing an accusing finger at the two birds. “Mr Stark, I’ve been looking for you for ages! And Mr Doctor Strange, how could you disappear and not tell me where you were going?”

 

“You can’t even understand us, you daft kid,” Tony muttered fondly as Peter gently picked both of them up. Tony was quick to flutter back up to nest in Peter’s hair again, and Stephen hesitantly decided to follow.

 

“Alright, now I can see why you keep sitting on his head,” Stephen said after a moment.

 

“What’s the saying- Great Tits think alike?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was more of a filler, that’s why it’s pretty short... the next chapter will involve the return of Wong, and Tony and Stephen finally seeing this mutant first hand


	6. Six: Mutants, Fires and Pepper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something happened with that mutant...

It wasn’t long after that Wong portalled into the compound, causing Peter to jump as a portal suddenly snapped open right in front of him. The sorcerer laughed upon spotting the two birds nestled into Peter’s hair.

 

“I can see they’ve settled in,” Wong said with a chuckle, then his expression grew more serious. “You’d all better come with me. Something’s happened.”

 

“The mutant?” Peter questioned instantly; the kid really didn’t miss a thing.

 

Wong didn’t say anything. He simply turned and began to open another portal. Peering through the haze, Tony could see the base of a burning building, and firefighters desperately trying to put it out.

 

Wong stepped through, then beckoned for Peter to follow. Tony and Stephen hunched lower into his hair to avoid the worst of the heat. The moment they stepped through, part of the building fell and landed right near Peter with a loud crack, still burning.

 

“Careful, kid,” Tony muttered, despite knowing Peter couldn’t understand them.

 

“Be careful,” Wong warned Peter, echoing what Tony had said without even realising it. “People have died here.”

 

“Why did you bring us here, Mr Wizard?” Peter asked, sounding a little frightened. Tony rubbed his head against Peter’s to try and provide some comfort, but he doubted it did much to help, considering how small of a bird he currently was.

 

Stephen looked over at Tony. “That look he’s giving Peter… Tony, someone we  _ know  _ has died.”

 

It was then that a woman stumbled towards them, looking as if she’d been badly burned. Her hair was flame orange, and she was more than familiar to Tony.

 

“Pepper?” He chirped softly, before spreading his wings to flutter down onto Peter’s hand. “ _ You  _ were here? But it’s dangerous!”

 

As she drew closer, Tony could see that she was crying; his instant instinct was to comfort his close friend. He flew over to her, pressing his head against her cheek.

 

“What…?” Pepper looked at Peter and Wong for an explanation.

 

“Mr Stark, come back over here,” Peter said, voice sounding watery, as if he’d spotted something Tony hadn’t. Confused, he obeyed, flying back over to Peter’s palm.

 

“Tony is… that bird?”

 

Peter pointed to the bird still nestled on his head. “Mr Doctor Strange is this one.”

 

“A spell gone wrong,” Wong supplied.

 

“Oh.” Then Pepper tore her gaze away from the birds. “You’re sure you want them to see this?”

 

“The kid’s already spotted it,” Wong said, gesturing at Peter, who was now full-on crying.

 

“Spotted what?” Tony chirped demandingly, forgetting for a moment they couldn’t understand him. Stephen pointed with a wing from his perch atop Peter’s head.

 

“That,” he said, voice sounding grave and hollow. Tony followed where he was pointing to see something metallic and burned laying amongst the metal; the smell of charred skin rose from it, and it only took Tony a moment to realise it was Rhodey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I legit cried over this decision. The plot point revealed at the end of the chapter; I started crying over my choice to make that a major plot point


	7. Seven: Broken, Defeated and Arguments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony finds out Rhodey really is dead, and Stephen attempts to comfort him

“Rhodey?” Tony’s chirp was small as he stared at the vaguely man-like shape of burned, melted metal. Then he was frantically flying over there, ignoring Wong and Stephen’s calls for him to stay back. The heat hit him as he landed, and he was careful not to actually touch Rhodey’s suit; he knew it would burn him worse than he’d ever burnt himself cooking.

 

“Rhodey!” Tony’s voice peaked into a shrill shriek as his eyes fell on his best and closest friend. Rhodey lay unmoving, burned and covered in blood, more blood than Tony had seen in a long time. His body was bent in all the wrongs ways and at all the wrong angles; he looked  _ broken _ . Defeated.

 

But by far the worst part was Rhodey’s face; burned, nose broken, a deep gash on his head that showed the white gleam of bone. And his eyes, dead and staring, not that they’d ever actually see anything again. Tony, just a small bird amongst the destruction, collapsed with a sob.

 

“Tony!” Stephen landed just a short distance from the other bird, and stopped dead when he saw Rhodey. “Oh my god.”

 

It was a horrible sight, only made worse by the memory of Tony, and Peter for that matter, trying to stop him from going. 

 

“I couldn’t stop him,” Tony choked out; he looked like a pile of feathers that lay discarded on the earth.

 

“It wasn’t your fault,” Stephen murmured, tearing his eyes away from Rhodey to focus on Tony. He knew he could only help one of them now, so staring at Rhodey’s corpse wasn’t going to do anyone any good.

 

“I could have stopped him,” Tony said, lifting his head to look at Stephen. “I could have stopped him!”

 

“No, you couldn’t,” Stephen said gently, stretching out his wing to lay it over Tony. He was surprised when the slightly smaller bird leaned in closer to him, then realised Tony was probably taking comfort from the fact that Stephen was  _ there. _

 

“Tony! Stephen!” Pepper’s voice reached them, and then she was gently cupping her hands around them to shield them from the heat, and then she was carefully lifting them and carrying them away from Rhodey. Stephen heard Tony let out a broken cry, but he was thankful he didn’t try to turn and fly back to his fallen friend.

 

“You did all you could,” Stephen whispered softly to Tony as Wong led Pepper through a portal back to the Compound, and police swarmed the scene, along with SHIELD agents.

 

“It wasn’t enough,” Tony chirped sadly, meeting Stephen’s gaze for a second. “ _ I  _ wasn’t enough. If I wasn’t stuck as a bird, I could’ve-”

 

“Could’ve what? Gone in his place?  _ Died _ instead of him?” Stephen’s tone took on a harsher edge for a moment. “Died  _ with  _ him?”

 

Tony stared at Stephen, shocked by his outburst and too far in his grief to even try to think of something to say. Stephen let out a sigh and shook his head.

 

“I’m sorry. I just… guess I’m a little too used to death.” 

 

“You kill a lot of patients in your career?” Tony asked, sounding slightly cold as he did so. Stephen looked taken aback, so Tony continued, “Don’t think I don’t know you refused to treat Rhodey after he was injured.”

 

Stephen hung his head. “That was one of my many stupid mistakes.”

 

“You got that right,” Tony spat, shrugging Stephen’s wing off of his back. A concerned Pepper set them down on the couch, and Tony shuffled a fair distance from Stephen.

 

“But I was one of the best; I only lost a few patients in my career,” Stephen continued, trying not to let the hurt creep into his tone. “What I mean was after you’ve died over a million different ways, you get used to idea of dying, to the feel of it. You realise it’s not as bad as everyone thinks.”

 

“You’ve… died over a million different ways?” Tony sounded slightly less angry now, but Stephen was beginning to lose himself in his memories again and it didn’t really matter to him either way, but he nodded in response.

 

“Defeating Dormammu. I stuck myself in a time-loop and… it took him a while to agree to bargain.” Stephen sighed. “And with my memory, the pain isn’t going away anytime soon.”

 

Tony didn’t say anything, but wordlessly shuffled closer, pressing against Stephen. The other bird stretched his wing back over the smaller one, and tried to force the images of Rhodey’s limp, dead body from his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh I’m so sorry for my boys... I had to stop myself from making this chapter too long and too angsty. Do you know how many times I cried over my decision to kill Rhodey I’m this fic in the past two days?
> 
> Next chapter is the last, and is possibly gonna be the longest, so hold onto your hats folks!


	8. Eight: Mutants, Fire and A Battle.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Stephen go head to head with the mutant.

It wasn’t even three hours later when Wong approached the two small birds. He looked grim, and had a book clutched in one hand; probably one of the “ancient texts” Stephen kept mentioning whenever Tony was in the Sanctum.

 

“There’s good news and bad news,” Wong said, seeming to be speaking quickly. “The good news is I found out how to turn you guys back. The bad news is it takes half an hour, and that fire mutant has decided the compound is his next target. The other Avengers have agreed to come defend this place while I reverse the spell at the Sanctum.”

 

Tony and Stephen exchanged a glance, and then Tony chirped, “No.” To make sure Wong got the message, he shook his head.

 

“No?” Wong asked, seeming confused. “What do you mean no?”

 

“I mean I’m defending the compound from that damn mutant. Even if I die in the process.”

 

“Tony-” Stephen began, warning creeping into his tone, but Tony cut him off.

 

“I’m not leaving this place when it’s under threat!”

 

“The others can handle it!” Stephen argued back, flaring his wings for emphasis.

 

“That thing killed Rhodey,” Tony said, his voice shaking a little. “And I don’t want to see anyone else I know killed.”

 

“And if you die?” Stephen asked, staring straight at him.

 

“Well at least I’ll know I’ve died doing the right thing.”

 

“You two seem to be having quite the argument there,” Wong observed, staring down at the two great tit birds. “You planning on staying to defend the Compound?”

 

Tony nodded, and Stephen shot him a disapproving glare.

 

“So I’m guessing you’re going to stay with him then, Stephen,” Wong said, giving the other bird a knowing glance. Then, with a small sigh, he opened the book he was holding. “Good thing there’s a spell in here for giving animals powers.”

 

“I don’t even want to know why someone thought such a spell was necessary,” Stephen muttered as Wong began the incantation. Tony was smart enough to keep his mouth shut.

 

The spell didn’t take long, and soon both birds were sitting there, not feeling a whole lot different; other than Stephen, whom the spell had caused to turn into an eagle.

 

“Still short, I see,” Stephen said with a smirk, or as close as an eagle could get to smirking.

 

“Oh shut up,” Tony spat, but he wasn’t as mad as he sounded. Wong took a moment to study the birds.

 

“Alright, so I believe Stephen has received the strength and speed,” Wong said, and Stephen grinned, seeming happy with that fact.

 

“Which means Tony has the elemental powers,” the sorcerer continued, and it was Tony’s turn to grin.

 

“Hear that, Strange? I got the cooler powers.”

 

“You’re still small,” Stephen pointed out, and Tony scowled.

 

“Enough digs about my height. Let’s go kick some mutant ass.”

 

“Before we go… nevermind,” Stephen said, shaking his head as he trailed off before spreading his (now considerably larger) wings. He took off, and Tony stared after him for a moment before shaking himself, spreading his wings and following.

 

The first thing they saw as they exited the Compound was some of the other Avengers (Thor, Natasha, Clint and Peter) already locked in battle with the mutant. Tony was glad to see Peter was hanging back, and keeping out of range of the mutant’s fire abilities, but he wasn’t particularly happy that any of the others were close to the mutant.

 

“What’s the plan?” Stephen asked, soaring closer to Tony.

 

“Take him down,” Tony said, gesturing in the mutant’s direction with a talon.

 

“Yeah, I got that, any details I need to know about?”

 

Tony grinned in Stephen’s direction. “Don’t die.”

 

“Says you, the bird who wanted to die defending this place,” Stephen shot back, but Tony was already diving at the mutant; electricity sparked at the small bird’s talons, and water collected at his wingtips. Stephen watched on in awe, highly aware of how long it would take a sorcerer to master such elemental control.

 

Stephen remembered what Wong had said about him receiving strength and speed, and he realised he could use this to his advantage. Flapping his wings, he found a newfound speed, and he darted in, raked his claws across the mutant’s shoulder, then quickly darted back out of range.

 

The mutant turned to face him with an angry roar, and Tony ducked in, zapping his foe with lightning and managing to dart out of range just in time. Stephen swooped in to attack again, managing to take a chunk of flesh with him this time.

 

Tony dive-bombed the mutant again, this time dowsing the mutant in water. His enemy let out a cry of anger and began to shoot fire in Tony’s direction; hurriedly Stephen swooped in and clawed at the mutant’s face, drawing his attention as Tony flew out of range.

 

Once he saw Tony was safe, Stephen turned and began to make his way out of there, dodging fire blasts sent after him. Then sharp, hot pain flared across his wing, and for a moment he stayed suspended in air, then he began to plummet toward the ground. His wing was in pain and useless, but he tried to slow himself with the other. It was then that he heard the familiar thwip of webbing, and Peter swung in to catch the falling eagle.

 

“Nice catch, huh, Mr Doctor Strange?” Peter asked, sounding proud, as he landed on the roof of a nearby building. Stephen didn’t even have time to nod, too busy walking his way over to the building’s edge on shaky talons to watch the battle below.

 

Thor had begun to relentlessly fry the mutant with lightning, while Natasha helped get civilians clear of the area. Tony was a whirlwind of elemental power; at the centre of it all he flew, hurling fire, water and lightning in rapid procession, channeling the air to blow the mutant this way and that.

 

Then the mutant seemed to have had enough. His eyes locked on Tony, and he raised his hands. Stephen opened his beak to shriek out a warning, but Tony had already turned and spotted the threat. A stream of fire from the mutant’s hands hit an electrical field Tony had raised in defence.

 

The air began to charge with energy as both focused their full power. Stephen grabbed Peter’s ear in his beak to pull him down behind the edge of the building just before a powerful blast echoed outwards. After a few seconds, Stephen chanced popping his head up, and spotted Thor rushing over to tie up the now knocked out mutant.

 

The eagle’s eyes roamed over the destruction below, searching for a small mass of feathers that would tell him where Tony was. Then his eyes fell on the small, limp form of the great tit bird, just at the base of the building Stephen and Peter were on. Forgetting his injured wing, Stephen leaped from the building to try and float down to him; it was more of an ungraceful fall but he managed to make it down without injuring himself further.

 

“Tony!” For a moment, it looked like the little bird wouldn’t move again. Then he let out a small, weak cough and looked up at Stephen.

 

“Did we get him?”

 

“Yeah, yeah we did,” Stephen said, relieved that he was okay. “Now let’s go get Wong to turn us back to humans, huh?”

 

Later, once Wong had reversed the spell, Stephen and Tony stood alone in the Sanctum, Stephen’s arm in a sling and Tony with multiple little cuts bandaged.

 

“You did good today,” Stephen said. “Even though you nearly died.”

 

Tony smiled, and took Stephen’s hand, which surprised the sorcerer at first before he gently gripped it in return.

 

“Let’s not fight any more bad guys for a while, yeah?”

 

“That sounds good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I achieved my goal of completing this fic before seeing Endgame... unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to POST this before seeing Endgame so I’m sitting here in tears as I type this out...
> 
> But anyway, this concludes the fic! I’ll probably go write 3000 Endgame fix it fics... oh I also have an Endgame support group server so if you’ve seen Endgame and you wanna join, here ya go: https://discord.gg/BMJquXj
> 
> EDIT: Manatee did some fanart for the fic!!! It looks amazing, I really wasn’t expecting anyone to do any fanart and y’all should definitely have a look at it because it’s so. Beautiful. https://little-manatee.tumblr.com/post/185179553833/so-today-i-kinda-doodle-ironstrange-birdies

**Author's Note:**

> Next chapter will involve Wong being pestered by two birds


End file.
